Kabini...some of the birds

We sighted an impressive 108 species of birds in the 2 days at Kabini….let me start with a visitor to our shores, which does an amazing feat of travelling, the

BARN SWALLOW:

There will be more of this bird later in the post, which contains

LOTS of birds, see at leisure only….

One of the common ones that we started the trip with, was the
RUFOUS TREEPIE:
Other travellers from afar were the
YELLOW WAGTAIL:
and the
GLOSSY IBIS:
Other birds in the paddy fields on our way included the
WOOLLY-NECKED STORK;
Here are two of them!
In a water body adjacent to the road, we were delighted to watch this
COMMON COOT
family (I've never seen Coot chicks before...they are such 'cooties'!) swimming around:
A beautiful
PHEASANT-TAILED JACANA
posed next to a water lily:
At the Kabini campus of JLR, we enjoyed watching the antics of the
HOUSE SPARROW:
here's a young one out "on the tiles"!
On the jeep safari, we were lucky enough to spot three different vultures! Alas, the top of the jeep being closed meant that I could not get a photo of the King Vulutre, but I twisted around enough to get SMS (Shamelessly Mediocre Shots) of the
LONG-BILLED VULTURE
and the
WHITE-RUMPED VULTURE
An old and beloved common raptor was this
BLACK-WINGED KITE:
Regular sightings in the forest always include the
CRESTED (CHANGEABLE) HAWK EAGLE
and the equally beautiful
CRESTED SERPENT EAGLE:
We were able to see many varieties of Woodpeckers; here's a
WOODPECKER
silhouette:
and a
WHITE-BELLIED WOODPECKER
on a tree-trunk:
The beauty of the
MALABAR PARAKEET
was stunning:
A
JUNGLE MYNAH
preened itself before us:
I also decided to take a shot of the
COMMON MYNAH
as Shreeram said it was quite a difficult bird to photograph...don't you like the light on the bird?
One music-note-tailed bird was the
RACKET-TAILED DRONGO:
We saw several of the
CHESTNUT-TAILED (MALABAR) STARLING:
A handsome, very young
GREY JUNGLE FOWL
ran across the jeep's path:
At several places, we found a
WHITE-BREASTED KINGFISHER
posing for us; here's one, preening:
Here are more photos of the
BARN SWALLOW
on the Kabini backwaters:
We saw a
GREY HERON
on the backwaters, too:
On the banks of the Kabini, we were stunned to see several
ORIENTAL PIED HORNBILL
families in the bamboo thickets:
earlier, we'd seen several of the
INDIAN GREY HORNBILLS
in the trees on the way to Kabini:
id
Such large and beautiful birds!
Here are what I call "Indian Grey Wagtails"! They move their tails to balance themselves, I suppose....
One bird which we were very happy to see was the
BROWN FISH OWL
and for the first time I got it when it was NOT looking right down into the water!
I've already posted about the
GREAT CORMORANT

How I wish I could have photographed all the other birds (total of 108 species!) that we saw….but at least, though the light was fading, I got an SMS of the fastest bird in the world, the majestic

What a wonderful and productive trip! Next up, butterflies, mammals, and others….and I’ll do a people post after that…by the time I finish all these, I’m sure to have gone on the next birding trip, too!